Sony PCM-D1 Linear PCM Recorder
by Steve La Cerra
[Wait a second, what the hell is a recording device doing as a Road Test in FOH? This is a LIVE audio magazine. OK, cool your jets a second. Yes, we have drawn a real line in the sand between live and studio, but that line is increasingly blurring and we have to address that fact. Also, when I saw this at a recent trade show all I could think of was how cool it would be to use to make real "room" recordings of gigs. So, that is the method to this particular madness. Read on…-ed.] Way up high on the list of "this is really cool and I gotta have it" is the Sony PCM-D1 Linear PCM Recorder. Looking like a cross between a Tricorder and a taser, the PCM-D1 reflects the latest in digital recording technology, capturing linear 16- or 24-bit audio at sample rates from 22.05 kHz to 96 kHz into non-volatile RAM or Memory Stick Pro media. Using its 4 GB internal RAM, recording times range from 2 hours at 96 kHz/24-bit to 13 hours at 22.05 kHz/16-bit.
The PCM-D1 comes in a beautiful handheld chassis constructed from titanium for durability. The front panel includes "transport" controls, clutched L/R record level knobs and buttons for menu, backlight, and "divide." Menu functions include 200 Hz high pass filter, limiter, sample rate and bit depth selection and on/off for Sony's Super Bit Mapping (SBM) noise reduction.
At the top of the PCM-D1 is a pivoting head with a pair of high-sensitivity electret condenser mics fixed in an XY stereo pattern. A metal guard protects these mics should the unit be dropped on its head. A pair of analog level meters (with peak LED's) and an LCD complete the front panel; these may be backlit using the "Light" button. On the side panels of the PCM-D1 are on/off, mic/line and hold switches; headphone jack witj level control, mic and line ins, digital out, USB port and a DC input. A small door provides access for Memory Stick Pro media. All controls are easy to see and use, even for those with large fingers.
Along with the recorder, Sony ships a wall-wart AC Poweradapter, 4 AA NiMH batteries with a charger, windscreen, USB cable and Sony's DigiOn software for editing. The NiMH batteries are rated for 5 hours at 16/44.1 kHz and 4 hours at 24/96 (our tests confirmed this estimate). A battery meter on the LCD shows remaining life. It is not possible to recharge the batteries while they are inside the PCM-D1; the charger must be used for this purpose. Batteries are inserted into a small carrier that loads into the rear panel of the PCM-D1. I found that after several weeks of use, the door to the carrier opened a bit more easily than I'd like.
Anyone who has ever used a tape recorder can operate the PCM-D1: simply turn it on and press record to set a level, then play or pause to "roll" the transport. The PCM-D1 has no mechanism, which is one of its great strengths: unlike previous generations of field recorders that used tape or disc storage, the PCM-D1 does not suffer from transmission of mechanical noise between transport and microphones. My recordings sounded great: extended dynamic range, clear high's, a solid low end and a stable stereo image.
Using the PCM-D1 to record live audio from a mixing console was simple, but required a 1/8-inch stereo-to-dual-1/4-inch phone plug adapter (not included). Sliding the mic/line switch to "Line" routes this input to the PCM-D1's A/D for recording, and disconnects the built-in mics. The line input handled the output of a Crest XR20 without a problem, and produced a clean, quiet recording. More unusual is the PCMD1' s (analog) Line Out/Optical Digital Out. Apparently this single jack outputs both formats simultaneously, though the manual doesn't make clear exactly how Sony accomplished this. I used the Line Out to play analog audio from the PCM-D1 back into the Crest XR20 (it sounded great), but didn't have the proper cable on hand to try using the digital out. Since the Line In/Out jacks are unbalanced, I'd suggest keeping cables as short as possible.
The PCM-D1 records files as .WAV's either to internal RAM or Memory Stick Pro. Offloading the files is fairly simple: Mac users connect the unit via USB, and the PCM-D1 shows up as a storage device for drag and drop archiving. Unfortunately, DigiOn editing software only runs under the Windows OS, so Mac users will need their own editing software (a major omission in my opinion). If you record to Memory Stick Pro, you can simply remove the card and place it into a reader.
Recordings are organized into 10 folders, each of which may contain 99 tracks. By default, track names begin with the date. The PCM-D1's "Divide" button helps organize tracks, allowing you to divide a large .WAV file into smaller files for easier access to specific cue points. If you divide while recording, the new track gets its own name. If you divide on playback or pause "_0" is added to the name of the original track, and "_1" is added to the name of the new track. This is a pain the arse when dividing a track into say, 10 or 12 segments as I did after recording a live show with 13 songs. Each press of Divide appends the file name, resulting in silly long file names that can be difficult to manage (this is more a function of Windows than it is of the PCM-D1, and just another reason to hate Windows). When the device is connected to a computer you can rename files with titles, and the titles will show up on the PCM-D1's LCD (but you cannot rename a file from within the PCM-D1).
The PCM-D1 is an incredible piece of technology. It might be a bit pricey for causal field recordists but the PCM-D1 is worth every cent for the serious user.
What it is: Stereo digital field recorder
Who it's for: Touring sound pro's
Pros: Solid state recording means no vibration noise; easy to use; great sound quality; removable media; lightweight
Cons: DigiOn editing software available only for PC; expensive; Windows file naming can be convoluted
How much: $1,995.00
Steve "Woody" La Cerra is the frontof- house engineer and tour manager for Blue Öyster Cult. He can be reached via email at Woody@fohonline.com
Soundcraft MH2 Mixing Console
by Mark Amundson
The Soundcraft MH2 is a seductive little mixing console. At first I was thinking, "A nice little console with VCAs added". But before my road test review was over, my mind changed to "A full touring console with an economy minded feature set". You know I'm a sucker for great sounding consoles, but the Soundcraft MH2 shot right to the top of my "so sad to return it" list.
The Gear
It is the right combination of features that makes my MH2-24 demo console so seductive, both in the input strip features and the master section. Starting with the mono channel input jacks, the Soundcraft MH2 has both a TRS line input and the XLR mic input. Both have switch-selectable and separate 20dB pads, with the line switch choosing one input or the other. The mic input gets the obligatory phantom switch with red LED indicator, and before the 15 to 60dB preamp a polarity switch is added. A direct line jack is provided after the preamp, and before the switchable and adjustable 30Hz to 400Hz high-pass filter section.
Separate balanced TRS sends and returns are provided for each channel strip. This is a definite step up from TRS insert jacks commonly found on mid-market consoles. The 4-band EQ section is switch selectable and features an additional green LED to tell us idiots that the EQ knobs we are turning may or may not be doing any good. All four bands are semi-parametric with the high and low filters in shelving mode and the two mid-range bands having a fixed Q of 1.5 for the +/-15dB amplitude controls. The mid sweeps are 75Hz to 1.3kHz and 750Hz to 13kHz with centers at 330Hz and 3.3kHz respectively. All the controls are well marked with many frequencies and dB gains provided below each knob.
Ten aux sends are provided with a 2+2+4+2 grouping in the pre/post VCA signal selection. Extra switches are provided for direct output to be made post EQ section, and another switch for pre-VCA and pre-EQ selection for the aux sends (to EQ or not the pre- VCA auxes). In addition, another switch allows auxes to be fed post pan control for a stereo aux mix. And in another bevy of switches next to the aux send controls, you have additional paired subgroup sends and master post-VCA assigns for LCR, C and LR combinations. The red peak signal LED at the top of each channel strip is fed by a two-point system monitoring pre-insert and post-EQ signals for greater than +18dBu levels.
The MH2 is a two-rake console design with the VCA channel control faders on the lower level rake along with the LED bargraph display, mute/safe switch, VCA/solo switch and VCA assign LED bar. The faders are very smooth 100mm units with half the travel in the +/-10dB range. The pre-VCA signal LED bargraph consists of 12 LEDs ranging from -30dBu to +18dBu in logical spacings and colors. Below the bargraph are eight small red LEDs indicating VCA assign status to the eight VCA group fader controls. Large self-illuminated mute/safe and VCA/solo buttons on opposite ends of the channel faders and used for mute, mute safe, solo and VCA assign functions.
My MH2-24 also came with four stereo input channels set with pairs of XLR or TRS jacks and similar preamp configuration as the mono input channels. The differences are two switches that permit cross-coupling/mono function of the inputs. The stereo strip EQ section knobs are fixed 80Hz, 450Hz, 2.5kHz and 12kHz controls for +/-15dB adjustment with the high and low controls in shelving mode.
The master section is what you would expect when 10 auxes, 8 subgroups and 8 VCA groups are clustered together. Much like bigger expensive consoles, the subgroups are placed on 60mm color keyed faders, and are flipable with the corresponding aux masters for better monitor mix control. 12 LED segment bargraphs follow the subgroup/aux faders. Stuck in middle of all these controls are four additional stereo returns with 3-band EQ sections and assigns for the main mix or subgroups.
Adding to the master section mayhem is the 11 x 4 matrices for combining main and subgroup mixes for additional master mixes. The three LRC master faders are 100mm types placed up on the master strip rake and placed with the corresponding 12 LED bargraph metering, plus operator monitoring and talkback sections. Below the master section are the digital brains of the MH2 with the buttons for VCA assigns, mute assigns, mute groups, mute/safe preview and solo clear selections. The headphone jack and level control are also placed here for convenience. MIDI channel 16 control is also available for external automation of mutes.
The Gig
Like anyone used to non-VCA consoles, getting the channel assigns is the first thing to get a handle on. Once I got the channels selected for LCR or LR mode, then VCA assigning began with a vengeance. I like the idea of VCAs, not just from scratchy fader isolation, but from the idea that VCA group really is preserving LCR integrity and is like having two or three subgroup faders in one VCA group fader. This way I can pan signals with abandon, and without burning up pairs of subgroup faders on non-VCA consoles.
Everyone is dying to know what I think of the MH2 preamps and EQ sections. The best description I can give is that they are pristine enough that I wanted to just kick back and listen to CD tracks all day from pairs of the mono channel strips. It was that good, and when activating the 4-band EQ sections, it was almost undetectable to know they were inserted when flat.
Out at the gigs, the console was beautiful in its operation; it became "the toy" at FOH for me. But like a lot of the gear I road test, the critical reviewing is mostly done back in the shop. Looking for niggles, the most I could come up with is that the insert sends, subgroup sends and aux masters send were all "impedance balanced"–which is technical jargon for "somewhere in between true balanced and unbalanced outputs." (I could do a whole column on the differences between types of balanced outputs. Indeed, some at Soundcraft took issue with my pointing out the difference between balanced and impedance balanced. I could give you the gory detatils, but most readers would be bored to tears in electrical circuit-speak.)
What is important to know about impedance balanced outputs is that the manufacturer saved on costs by placing a resistor on the pin 3 (cold or ring contact) output instead of a reverse polarity drive circuit to get a little bit of the benefits of balanced signal drive. This would not be something I would drive long snake cables with, but it is a good cost compromise as most users will not have long cabling from inserts, subgroup mixes and aux mixes. Usually some graphic EQ or signal processor would handle the task and provide true long wire servo-balanced outputs on pins 2 and 3.
To sum up, the MH2 is great value as a mid-market VCA analog console, and a good "last hurrah" before moving on to digital desks at a later date. The $11,595 suggested retail price for this MH2-24 is fair for its feature set, but steep enough to keep the amateurs away. Parting with the Soundcraft MH2- 24 will be very sorrowful.
What it is: An Entry-Level Analog VCA Mixing Console
Who it's for: Soundco's and local theatres needing the VCA and Mute Group features but with constrained budgets.
Pros: Pristine channel strip audio quality, touring features, great value.
Cons: Cost cutting on balanced outputs.
How much: $11,595 MSRP
